Five Nations Join Efforts to Punish Transnational Bitcoin Tax Crime

Tax enforcement authorities from five nations announced that they have created a united alliance, the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement, known as “the J5.” The J5 said they are committed to combating transnational tax crime “through increased enforcement collaboration,” in other words: working together to gather information, share intelligence, and conduct joint operations.

The Internal Revenue Service Is on the Hunt for People Who Used Bitcoin to Evade Taxes

The J5 include the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), the Dutch Fiscale Inlichtingen- en Opsporingsdienst (FIOD), the British HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), and the American Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

“We are convinced that offshore structures and financial instruments, where used to commit tax crime and money laundering, are detrimental to the economic, fiscal, and social interests of our countries,” the IRS posted in a statement on their homepage. “We will work together to investigate those who enable transnational tax crime and money laundering and those who benefit from it. We will also collaborate internationally to reduce the growing threat to tax administrations posed by cryptocurrencies and cybercrime and to make the most of data and technology,” they added.

The group met for the first time last week and developed new plans to identify and pursue cybercriminals and those who enable transnational tax crimes, and who enable and assist money laundering. Further updates on J5 initiatives will be announced in late 2018.

Bitcoin has presented millions of individuals around the world with a unique opportunity to generate a massive amount of revenue through intelligent investing.

The IRS determined that Bitcoin would be treated as property, with losses or gains treated as either capital loss or capital gains for taxation purposes. The IRS reportedly revealed new details about its investigation into tax evasion related to bitcoin, filing court documents that suggest only a tiny percentage of virtual currency owners are reporting profits or losses in their annual returns.

What do you think about the IRS joining 5 nations to crack Bitcoin tax evasion? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Nathalie Stucky is a Tokyo-based Swiss journalist. Prior to joining the Bitcoin.com news department, she was a freelance journalist and contributor at The Daily Beast and Japan Subculture Research Center.

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